BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON: Australian road champion Simon Gerrans has quit the Tour de France after more than two weeks due to lingering injuries sustained in his crash in stage one in Leeds.

Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE), who crashed with British sprint star Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) in the finale of the Tour opener, has opted to leave the Tour that finishes on Sunday to recover fully from his injuries.

“Obviously it’s disappointing not to complete the Tour de France and make it to Paris,” Gerrans, 34, said in a team statement after Tuesday's 16th stage was won by Australian Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo).

Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) still leads the Tour overall after 16 stages by 4m 37s on Spain's second-placed Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and 5m 06s over Frenchman Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr) who is now in third place.